Work Group on Returning Non-Delinquent Youth

Caitlyn Bickford is the Commissioner and Deputy Compact Administrator for the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families Interstate Office.  Caitlyn began her career with NH DCYF in 2007 as a Child Protective Service Worker (CPSW) in a local district office, working closely with families with a substantiated finding of abuse or neglect in order to reunify children with their parents, or assisting the parents with maintaining their children in their home.  Caitlyn then worked as a Permanency CPSW, focusing on achieving sustainable permanency for children that were legally free for adoption.  From there, she was promoted to the position of Permanency Supervisor within that local office, where she supervised a staff of 6-8 workers, along with ensuring a sustained attention on permanency for all of the children within that local office.   After 4-years as a Supervisor, Caitlyn then accepted a position within NH DCYF’s State Office as the Deputy Compact Administrator for the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) in 2017.  At that time, ICJ was being managed by another position within State Office.  Caitlyn advocated for ICPC and ICJ to be under the same position given the similarities and unique crossover there often is, especially given Child Protection and Juvenile Justice are both within NH DCYF.  Caitlyn became the Commissioner and DCA for ICJ in 2018.  Her position continued to expand in 2018 with the addition of a specific home study unit responsible for completing all incoming ICPC Home Studies, which she supervises and oversees. Caitlyn’s position once again expanded when began overseeing the Human Trafficking program in 2020.  As the Interstate Programs Administrator of New Hampshire, Caitlyn oversees ICPC, ICJ and the Human Trafficking Program Specialist.